Volte Face

FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT VOLTE FACE - PAGE 4

MUMBAI: Scorched by an unprecedented power crisis, Maharashtra's electricity consumers are set to get some relief after Andhra Pradesh and Punjab promised supplies of 700 MW-800 MW on top of the 500 MW promised by the Centre. Faced with a severe shortfall that has triggered violent protests in many parts of the state, chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and energy minister Dilip Valse-Patil rushed to Delhi seeking help. Mr Deshmukh also knocked on the doors of virtually every state chief minister in the country.

MUMBAI: In a paradoxical situation, domestic steel players are now demanding scrapping of anti-dumping duties on import of long products into India, though the duties were first imposed to protect them from cheaper imports. The Indian companies face an acute shortage of long steel products, as imports from China and Russia are not viable because of heavy anti-dumping duties. Importers now hope that duties will be relaxed, as there are only a few markets where long steel is available and affordable.

MUMBAI: Realising that quitting from the central government at this stage would be damaging for the party, the Shiv Sena did a complete turnaround from its earlier stand and announced on Wednesday that its minister Anant Geete would not be resigning from the union cabinet. Just 48 hours earlier the Sena had publicly announced that Geete would quit as soon as PM Narendra Modi returns from abroad. Sena took this stand after its breakup with BJP in Maharashtra. A Sena insider close to Uddhav told ET on Wednesday night that Uddhav Thackeray has now asked Geete to hold on and not take any step until further instructions.

KOCHI: The 'betrayal' by the Italian government and a ministerial household torn asunder by marital troubles are things that have been dominating the news in Kerala recently. While the world focuses its attention on Vatican City , following the election of Pope Francis, Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy has the unenviable task of explaining to his people that his Congress-led government at the Centre means business when it warns Rome of consequences if the two marines, who shot dead two Malayali fishermen off Kerala coast, are not sent back to India for trial.

BJP spokespersons and senior leaders who used to demand the resignation of Manmohan Singh and his Cabinet colleagues on a range of issues have taken a diametrically opposite stand on them after its government assumed power at the Centre. Rail fares and freight charges are just the latest issue on which BJP has changed its position. As the principal opposition, it had opposed any move to increase railway fares 'bypassing Parliament' with Modi himself tweeting his displeasure in 2012. "Just before rail budget, UPA has suddenly increased railway freight rates bypassing Parliament.

AHMEDABAD: Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today postponed her next week's Gujarat visit, a development which comes in the backdrop of anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare making a volte-face on supporting her in the Lok Sabha elections. Banerjee was scheduled to address a rally in Ahmedabad on March 20, along with Hazare. Pravinsinh Jadeja , chief of Samata Party-Gujarat who met Banerjee in New Delhi today, informed about the development.

NEW DELHI: The Congress did yet another volte-face on carving Telangana from Andhra Pradesh on Saturday, saying the issue was not on the agenda of the central government that it leads. Congress spokesman PC Chacko, who held a briefing to recount the achievements of nine years of the government, said, "Telangana is not a part of the agenda of UPA . " When asked about the flip-flop, he said, "I am speaking about UPA's achievements. Telangana was not a part of our manifesto.

Getting overseas students to India calls for a paradigm shift in the quality of education on offer in India. It is only after that is achieved can we think of individual institutions successfully setting up campuses overseas. Instead of a concerted effort to market Indian education overseas, IIMs are now permitted by government to set up campuses overseas. This volte face by government resulted from arguments that as an autonomous body, IIMB was competent to take the decision, Congress HRD minister's unease at being compared to his predecessor from the BJP who stopped IIMs from raising fees, and the intervention by the President of India in its favour.

Sir, Gujarat is in everyone's mind. Election result predictions, trends etc are good business. But what impact would it make on the future of the political set-up and the country? Mr Modi might have built his castle on the foundations of 'hate' or 'rhetoric', but as far as he is concerned, he has done his job wonderfully well. While 'Rhetoric rules over reality' (ET on Sunday, Dec 8) here, the Chinese may march over us in every field. This is only a trend that the country exhibits.

NEW DELHI: If any proof was needed about defence minister George Fernandes' vacillation on the Centre's disinvestment programme, it was available today during his address to the Samata Party's national convention at Rajkot on Wednesday. Although the signs were evident after a recent meeting with deputy prime minister L K Advani here, where he sought more time to firm up his views on the strategic sale of HPCL and BPCL, Mr Fernandes confirmed his opposition to privatisation when he told the Samata conference that profit-making companies should be taken out of the process.